EGF 650 mcg

EGF 650 mcg research-grade lyophilized protein powder supplied in a glass vial. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a signaling protein commonly studied in laboratory models involving EGFR activation, intracellular signaling, cellular proliferation, migration and differentiation.

Research Overview

Epidermal growth factor is a signaling protein studied primarily for its interaction with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Binding of EGF to EGFR is used in laboratory models to investigate receptor activation, intracellular signal transduction and subsequent changes in cellular behavior.

Primary Research Areas

• EGFR signaling: Laboratory studies examining receptor binding, receptor phosphorylation and downstream signaling pathways activated following EGF stimulation [6,8].
• Cell proliferation: Experimental models investigating growth-factor-dependent cell-cycle activity and cellular proliferation responses [7,8].
• Cell migration: In vitro research examining cellular movement, wound-closure models and signaling mechanisms associated with migration [4,5].
• Cell differentiation: Research into changes in cellular phenotype, morphology and function following EGFR pathway activation.
• Ulcers on the feet in diabetes: in a phase III trial, 167 adults with chronic diabetic foot ulcers sprayed 0.005 per cent recombinant human EGF or plain saline twice a day. Healing was complete in 73.2 per cent against 50.6 per cent on saline, with a median 56 days to healing against 84. These were wounds treated on the surface [1,2].
• Duodenal ulcers, swallowed: 103 people with a duodenal ulcer drank recombinant human EGF three times a day for six weeks in a placebo-controlled multicentre trial. At 50 micrograms per millilitre, 70.6 per cent of the ulcers had healed on endoscopy against 40 per cent on placebo; at 10 micrograms per millilitre it was no better than placebo [3].
• Scratched and grazed eyes: in a randomised placebo-controlled trial, 104 people with traumatic scrapes to the surface of the eye used EGF drops or the vehicle alone. The surface closed in an average of 44 hours with EGF against 61 hours with placebo, and tolerance was the same in both groups. It is a small and old trial [5].
• It does not close every wound: 44 people with venous leg ulcers were randomised to EGF solution or placebo twice a day for up to ten weeks. Six of seventeen healed on EGF against two of eighteen on placebo, which did not reach significance, and the authors concluded it was safe but did not speed up skin regrowth [4].
• Lowering EGF and lung cancer: a phase III trial in 405 people with advanced lung cancer tested a vaccine that makes the body attack its own EGF. Among those who had at least four doses median survival was 12.43 against 9.43 months; across the whole vaccinated group it was 10.83 against 8.86 months, which the standard test did not call significant [6].
• Side effects reported so far: in the trial that injected EGF into the edge of the ulcer, mild passing dizziness was the only side effect more common with EGF than with placebo, and the six-week oral duodenal-ulcer trial reported no adverse reactions. These were small trials of weeks to months, giving EGF into a wound or by mouth [3,7].

References

1. Park KH, Han SH, Hong JP, et al. Topical epidermal growth factor spray for the treatment of chronic diabetic foot ulcers: A phase III multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2018;142:335-344. PMID 29902542. doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2018.06.002
2. Tsang MW, Wong WK, Hung CS, et al. Human epidermal growth factor enhances healing of diabetic foot ulcers. Diabetes Care. 2003;26(6):1856-61. PMID 12766123. doi:10.2337/diacare.26.6.1856
3. Palomino A, Hernández-Bernal F, Haedo W, et al. A multicenter, randomized, double-blind clinical trial examining the effect of oral human recombinant epidermal growth factor on the healing of duodenal ulcers. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2000;35(10):1016-22. PMID 11099053. doi:10.1080/003655200451126
4. Falanga V, Eaglstein WH, Bucalo B, et al. Topical use of human recombinant epidermal growth factor (h-EGF) in venous ulcers. J Dermatol Surg Oncol. 1992;18(7):604-6. PMID 1624634. doi:10.1111/j.1524-4725.1992.tb03514.x
5. Pastor JC, Calonge M. Epidermal growth factor and corneal wound healing. A multicenter study. Cornea. 1992;11(4):311-4. PMID 1424650. doi:10.1097/00003226-199207000-00007
6. Rodriguez PC, Popa X, Martínez O, et al. A Phase III Clinical Trial of the Epidermal Growth Factor Vaccine CIMAvax-EGF as Switch Maintenance Therapy in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients. Clin Cancer Res. 2016;22(15):3782-90. PMID 26927662. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-15-0855
7. Gomez-Villa R, Aguilar-Rebolledo F, Lozano-Platonoff A, et al. Efficacy of intralesional recombinant human epidermal growth factor in diabetic foot ulcers in Mexican patients: a randomized double-blinded controlled trial. Wound Repair Regen. 2014;22(4):497-503. PMID 25041620. doi:10.1111/wrr.12187
8. McElroy SJ, Hobbs S, Kallen M, et al. Transactivation of EGFR by LPS induces COX-2 expression in enterocytes. PLoS One. 2012;7(5):e38373. PMID 22675459. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038373